BOPP advocates review of oil palm production policies
The General Manager of Benso Oil Palm Plantation Limited (BOPP), Mr Samuel Avaala, has called on the government and policy makers to review policies on oil palm production to create a favourable business environment.
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That, according to him, would enable the private sector and the government to collaborate to make the oil palm industry stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the cocoa industry in creating wealth for rural communities and also boost the economy.
Mr Avaala made the call at a durbar during which 34 workers, 13 independent palm fruit suppliers and communities and eight smallholder farmers received various awards in recognition of their meritorious services to the company.
Giving instances of some bottlenecks in the industry, he said the company paid GH¢1 million for domestic energy alone this year, whereas the company’s direct cost of processing a tonne of fresh fruit bunch was about seven dollars and the corresponding indirect cost was about 10 dollars.
To this end, the company would, from the next production year, begin to pay a 12.5 per cent corporate tax as and when there was no such tax previously, he said, quizzing “Is this not high cost of doing business in Ghana?”
Mr Avaala said though Ghana was a net importer of crude palm oil with a climatic condition suitable for cultivation of oil palm, there were challenges with land acquisition coupled with non-existence of suitable long term and patent capital for agriculture, particularly tree crops.
He, therefore, appealed to traditional rulers, district assemblies, development partners and other stakeholders to address this problem so that investors through BOPP could expand nucleus estate, smaller holders and out-grower schemes.
He said for the past three years, the company has paid a total of GH¢26.3 million in purchasing fruits from smallholders, out-growers and transporters in the Western and Central regions and this could be significantly increased if more land was made available for development.
On successes chalked up, he said between January and November last year, the company processed 100,936 metric tonnes of fresh fruit bunches, compared to 89,681 metric tonnes processed in the same period the previous year, representing a 12.5 per cent.
For corporate social responsibilities, Mr Avaala said the company had awarded scholarships to a total of 44 students in the catchment area and children of employees at the second cycle and tertiary levels, bringing to 246 beneficiaries since the inception of a scholarship scheme in 2007.